Two months after touching off an uproar by imposing a new 50-cent fee for riding the Red Hook-St. John ferry, the Virgin Islands Port Authority has backed off, by a quarter, for some people.
The Authority decided everyone except seniors, students and people needing treatment for a chronic medical problem will pay a half-dollar as a new ‘use fee’ for the ferry terminal at Red Hook. Passengers qualifying for the discount will pay only 25 cents.
The current round trip ferry fare is $10. The Public Service Commission is considering a request from the ferry companies to boost the cost 40%,m to $14, according to the Virgin Islands Daily News.
Now, here’s the part of this story I really love!
The use fee will be added into the cost of the tickets sold by the ferry company. Then, the Daily News said, the ferry companies will “pass the fee on to the Port Authority for terminal maintenance costs.” Yeah, right.
For years, the PA and/or the PSC have been wrestling to get verified financial reports from the companies which consistently cry and complain and poor mouth about how bad their business is, but whose employees are, shall we say ‘lax,’ about money handling, receipts, and reporting.